


Cave

by Katrina



Series: Daily Prompt/750words set [1]
Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: 750 words, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Daily prompt, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-10
Updated: 2012-08-10
Packaged: 2017-11-11 20:04:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/482392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katrina/pseuds/Katrina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Angeal expected darkness. It didn't stick.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cave

**Author's Note:**

> Put together for Daily Prompt and 750words.com. 
> 
> Prompt: Cave. What a shock.

In a way, Angeal had been ready for the darkness that had followed his fight with Zack. True, he had never really thought much about death, but he figured it was more like everything stopping than any of the stories that people told each other. Or perhaps he was just a lost more pessimistic since finding out the truth. After all, when one finds out that they aren't human, and then has their mother kill herself to avoid dealing with it, it tends to give a person a bit more sour sense of life.

He expected the dark. He did not expect to wake up again. 

It was hazy, in a way. He thought they might be underground, the walls had a much more organic feel than anything he had seen in Midgar, or with anything that Shin-Ra or Hojo had their fingers on. But that green was definitely mako, and he vaguely recalled that thin, pleased smile that Hojo wore far too often when it came to dealing with Hollander and his projects.

That thought still hurt, and he shied away from it, letting himself drift. He did not want to think about the fact that he was the way he was. A person who was a mix of genetics that was unstable and going mad. There, Sephiroth definitely had the advantage. While his friend had just as much a problem with the whole aspect of humanity at times, at least he hadn't been slowly falling apart. Which was good, as Angeal would never wished that on anyone, especially people he cared for. He only hoped that Genesis had been able to find a cure.

And Angeal would much rather think about the whole ache and pain of degrading than the fact that -Hollander- was his father.

Had Dad known that Angeal wasn't his? If so, Angeal was aware that the man had never treated him as anything less than his son. 

He kept that firmly in mind. His dad was the man he would always look to as his father, biological or not. He was the person who had taught Angeal about honor.

One thing he did very well was to keep away from poking at the idea that all of it had been planned, and than Banora was just one big training location to see how the two projects did in different environments. 

He ignored Hojo as best he could when the man would come by, letting himself drift into the flow of green that tugged at him so much. It burned, in a way, but he just went with it, only vaguely aware of what was happening in the strange lab where Hojo stashed him.

If things went well, Zack and Sephiroth would never find out about the place. If they did, they'd try to get Angeal out, and that was a risk he'd never want them to take. Hojo was too grasping, and getting bolder every year. 

On the waves of green, he'd sometimes hear things, get flashes of things that he wasn't sure if they were reality or dreams. Of Hollander and Genesis plotting here or there. Gen had a little more grey in his hair every time, and there was something wrong with Hollander in a way that made shivers run up Angeal's spine. 

Another image was of Zack talking to a woman with long hair. He vaguely recognized her as the girl who had found Zack after Angeal had sent him through the plate. It had definitely been a heartstopping moment, but when the teen had gone straight to flirting, Angeal had felt something relax in his chest. He forgot just how tough SOLDIERs were built at times, despite being one himself. He knew that Genesis, Sephiroth, and himself were able to take much more damage than a regular SOLDIER. Had never really questioned it, other than they were some of the original 1st Class SOLDIERs.

There were other images here and there, and one of them hurt. Badly. 

Flames. Fire and pain and a startling, throbbing -anger-. He wasn't sure what it was, but he let himself be tugged that way. Even after fire and pain stopped, he felt the anger, and he followed it. All the way to where he found a curled up form, wrapped around a bundle that made something in his head twinge. 

"Sephiroth?"

"So you've come to mock me as well, I see."

It took a bit, but Angeal finally got the story of how his friend had ended up in this green place. Even as Sephiroth explained about his mother and the Ancients, the green around him took on a darker shade, like Sephiroth's leathers were bleeding their color into their surroundings. 

After the other man finished talking, Angeal found himself asking the question without even having to think on it.

"What happened to Zack?"

There was a scowl from Sephiroth, and he narrowed his eyes at Angeal. "Of course you'd worry about him. Going to betray me as well, hmm? Though you should know more than anyone what we are, what we could be. Look at what the humans did to both of us!"

"We're more than our genetics, Sephiroth. It took a long time of doing nothing but listening to other peoples memories to get that into my head. Ancient or not, monster or not, we're still part human, and we have to decide what part of our genetics will define us."

He reached for his friend, only to have the other pull back. "No. You can turn your back on Mother, but I know you feel her pull at you as well. We're brothers, but if you defend humans, you are her enemy, and I will help her deal with those who had already betrayed our kind once. Do not make me fight you."

"I don't plan to. But I need to go find out what happened to Zack, because he is my responsibility." Angeal paused. "One who I have failed far too often. I need to make that up to him."

There was silence for a long moment as the two stared at each other, and Sephiroth scowled. "Go find your puppy. He's a traitor, but Hojo was coming. I remember feeling him there."

Angeal frowned. "We're going to have to have a long chat sometime soon, Seph." A fond nickname he hadn't used in a long time. "Real soon. Probably as we both figure out how to crawl out of this place." 

And after he had found out what had happened to Zack. The teenager had done his best to step up into Angeal's place, if the flickers of reality were honestly real, and Angeal was proud of his student. He needed to make sure the other was not the center of Hojo's focus.

"Perhaps," Sephiroth said, voice breaking into Angeal's thoughts. "Perhaps not. We'll see when the time comes."

There was nothing that Angeal could say to that, but he gave the other a nod. "I've missed you."

"Then you shouldn't have left in the first place."

With that twinge of bitter guilt hitting home again, Angeal reached out to the feel of solid bone and mako burn, letting himself pull away from the dreams and memories and settle back into flesh. Opening his eyes, he noticed that the lone person in the room was busy with notes.

That ended as Angeal focused, and shattered the mako with a press of his hands. That should not have been so easy, not against something designed to stand against the corrosive burn of mako, but he didn't dwell on it. Swaying out of the shattered remains of the tank, he moved, too quick, too hard. He knew he was going to have to kill the scientist, but he had meant to ask a few questions first.

Staring at the bundle of broken he had inadvertently caused, Angeal gave a bitter laugh. He hadn't intended to survive the fight with Zack, but he had. He hadn't meant to kill the man he held, but he had. Angeal hadn't meant for a lot of things to happen, but they were, and now it was time to deal with the consequences. 

First, find out where this hole in the ground was, then find out a few details.

He wondered if Kunsel still had the same contact number.


End file.
